Platinum Power to build hydroelectric plant in Cameroon

Wednesday, 08 July 2015 04:46

Energy from the hydroelectric plant will be sold to Eneo, Cameroon's national power utility company. (Image source: werner22brigitte/pixabay)Platinum Power, a Moroccan subsidiary of USA-based private equity firm Brookstone Partners, announced plans to build a hydroelectric project in Cameroon

The company has signed a framework public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with Cameroon’s government to construct a 400MW capacity hydroelectric complex in Makay in the country’s Centre Region. Platinum Power will invest close to US$850mn in the construction, which will begin in 2017 and is expected to be completed in 2020.

Cameroon currently produces about 1,200MW of electricity and with a population of around 22mn, suffers from a power deficit. The country will require a power output of around 3,000MW by 2018 to meet its economic growth target of 9.5 per cent, according to estimates made by Cameroon’s monetary and finance committee.

“Platinum plans to sell this renewable energy to Eneo,” said Platinum Power CEO Omar Belmamoun. Eneo is Cameroon’s national power utility company in which the majority stake is owned by emerging markets equity firm Actis.

Belmamoun said the company was also looking at other opportunities in Central Africa. “Gabon interests Platinum Power and we got in touch in March 2015 with the Gabonese minister of energy and water resources,” he said. Earlier in April, the company had agreed to invest more than US$750mn to build a series of hydroelectric dams in Côte d’Ivoire.